This invention relates to a completely self contained modular industrial ice machine. More specifically, the present invention concerns a method and apparatus for making clear fragmented ice from one or more serpentine type ice plates contained in the preferred embodiment within a high density, stress relieved, food grade polyethylene thermoplastic insulated modular box ice machine.
One of the most economical methods of making large quantities of clear ice is by using large surface serpentine type ice plates. Hundreds of commercial and industrial ice making machines in use today utilize this serpentine type ice plate. All of these commercial and industrial ice machines require substantial initial investments for equipment, tooling and labor. Manufacturing these machines requires equipment such as shears, punch presses, automatic strippit machines, foaming units for panels, jigs, special hand tools, an assortment of large and small press breaks and large welders. Further, these machines require tens of thousands of square feet of manufacturing space for proper production. The freezing plates used are normally of the serpentine type and placed in angle frames, square tube frames, sheet metal frames and frames of various other shapes and sizes. This type of plate is made of stainless steel and therefore normally lasts for indefinite periods of time. Indeed, what usually causes the various ice machines in this field to stop operating is rusting of the evaporator frame. The evaporator frame normally rusts out due to excess moisture and condensation.
The various models of ice machines on the market today have a significant number of valves, connections and joints which are associated with the making and defrosting of the ice. These include check valves, solenoid valves, desuperheating valves, auxiliary thermal expansion valves and others. Water and condensation often runs into electrical boxes resulting in burned out coils, electrical shocks and the need for constant maintenance and replacement of necessary operating components. This type of maintenance results in thousands of hours of down time replacing valves and tracing electrical shorts. The present invention comprises no electrical connections associated with the making and defrosting of clear ice sheets and further eliminates water connections located in the same enclosure where condensation corrodes the operating elements.
Many ice machines on the market today have frames which require the chipping of slag, buck shot grinding, and other labor exposing welders to eye injuries and the possibilities of hand and foot injuries. Frames built presently in the industry require sheet metal panels that can total as many as twenty seven different sizes and require a full scale sheet metal shop of approximately twenty men and approximately two million dollars worth of equipment for proper installation and manufacturing. In that the various components, more particularly the walls of other ice machines, must be hot dipped galvanized or constructed of sheet metal, sharp edges about the periphery of the unit are often exposed. Further, the sheet metal strips must be individually cut to specifications thereby leaving significant amounts of excess material wasted. In light of the foregoing problems, it is clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that there is an existing need for ice machines which overcome these problems in an economical and space saving fashion.
Other ice machines which utilize serpentine type freezing plates utilize ice slides which run substantially perpendicular to the plates and often contain rivets, screws, braces or hat sections which will cause ice to hang up during defrost. The polyethylene thermoplastic insulated ice slides of the present invention run at a substantially oblique angle to the serpentine freezing plates and are free of the above mentioned encumbrances.
The present invention incorporates an integrated water tank. As opposed to the standard practice, the present invention does not contain a water pump connection using a separate bushing type connection. The present invention comprises a clean-out and drain hole on the bottom of the water tank which is drilled and tapped. It is also standard in other industrial ice machines to find significant amounts of distribution piping, water distribution tubes, distribution flow valves and other hardware associated with distributing the water about the freezing plates. The present invention substantially eliminates excess piping and tubing by employing a single hydrostatic distributor manufactured of food grade polyethylene. This also eliminates stagnated water while the ice machine is off such as may occur when employing the apparatus described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,151 issued to Carpenter. Traditionally, the stainless steel serpentine freezing plates are installed one at a time using two or three laborers. The water distribution system also traditionally utilizes complicated angles and multiple sets of holes corresponding to the individual plates. Due to the angles and overall complicated system, water often stagnates when the system is not in use.
Some prior art ice-making devices freeze water to make ice and then also use water and/or hot gas for defrosting. When water is used for defrosting the water must have a temperature of at least sixty-five degrees fahrenheit (65.degree.) therefore, an auxiliary water heater and a blending valve are often required for such ice machines. This present invention utilizes a hot gas defrost method for the most efficient defrosting of ice from the stainless steel freezing plate assembly. With other various hot gas defrosting methods hot gas normally comes from the compressor passing through numerous check valves, suction solenoid valves, and suction line check valves before entering the freezing plates. What starts out as hot gas often condenses into up to fifty percent (50%) liquid by the time it reaches the freezing plates because of the pressure drops encountered while flowing through the various valves mentioned above. This fifty-fifty mixture must still travel through the freezing plates thereby creating more condensed liquid returning from the freezing plates and a defrost cycle of three minutes or greater. Eventually, this liquid condensation ends up at the compressor and is commonly known as "liquid slug", causing instant internal destruction of the compressor's valve plates and piston chambers. The present invention uses hot gas which travels directly from the compressor to the desuperheater header and enters the freezing plates equally with no interruptions thereby eliminating pressure drops and substantial condensation.
Finally, the prior art machines must normally be set over expensive grated pit areas for the purpose of controlling dripping water from the ice machines where designed ice sizers, ice crushers and their hardware assembly penetrate through the ice machines external panels. Where the penetration is located one can normally find leaks.
In light of the kinds of problems set forth above it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that there continues to exist a need for ice making machines which overcome those kinds of problems, as well as others.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved industrial ice making machine.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved modular and completely self contained ice machine.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved modular and completely self contained ice machine which comprises parts that may be easily inserted and removed allowing improved accessibility to the mechanical features of the ice machine.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular industrial ice machine manufactured of high density, stress relieved, polyethylene, food grade, thermoplastic material.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved modular industrial ice machine manufactured of high density, stress relieved, polyethylene, food grade thermoplastic material being resistant to hundreds of known chemical reactants and being totally nonconductive and noncorrosive by nature while utilizing only F.D.A. and U.S.D.A. approved material for the ice making process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine which eliminates any and all damage due to undesired condensation, drippage, corrosion, and rust from the ice machine regarding internal and external elements.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine which allows flexibility of design utilization without the need to specifically change the basic design concept for specific applications.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine which greatly reduces manufacturing time and cost.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved high density, stress relieved, polyethylene, food grade, thermoplastic hydrostatic distributor providing a controlled water flow to the new and improved design stainless steel freezing plates.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine featuring a stainless steel freezing plate that allows for 100% of the freezing surfaces on both sides to be utilized for the freezing of clear ice sheets.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine featuring a stainless steel freezing plate that allows for a top refrigerant inlet and bottom refrigerant outlet resulting in the elimination of trapped fluids during operation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine featuring a stainless steel freezing plate design that results in no pressure drops during operation providing equal flow of refrigerant internally throughout all 12 serpentine pass areas of each stainless steel plate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a high density, stress relieved, polyethylene, food grade, thermoplastic modular box ice machine compactly capable of housing one to twenty stainless steel freezing plates.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved modular ice machine capable of producing one to twenty tons of clear and sanitized sheet ice in twenty four hours of operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved desuperheater header distributor which will distribute the cold and hot gases equally to the freezing plates at the appropriate times for uniform freezing and defrosting comprising a single unit of much greater simplicity than the previously used distribution systems.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine featuring the simplicity of a designed defrost cycle which eliminates many regulating valves of various sizes and purposes per operating system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine incorporating an integrated water recirculating tank.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine featuring a round section of thermalplastic tubing cut along a center line groove and affixed atop each stainless steel freezing plate's edge allowing an improved distribution of water over the entire freezing surfaces of the stainless steel plates.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved modular ice machine which greatly reduces the overall total number of ice making components needed for a single self contained ice making unit.